July 4, 2024
8
min read
News
Chinese contractor wins Al-Ajban EPC contract
The project is expected to reach commercial operations by the third quarter of 2026

A team led by French utility developer EDF Renewables and including South Korea's Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo) has awarded Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Abu Dhabi's third solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power producer (IPP) project.

Located some 70 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi, the Al-Ajban solar IPP will have a capacity of 1,500MW.

The project is expected to reach commercial operations by the third quarter of 2026.

In April, the EDF-led consortium signed the contract to develop and operate the solar IPP project with Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec).

The team is expected to reach financial close on the project this quarter, MEED reported.

As with previous solar PV projects in the emirate, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) will own a stake in the special purpose vehicle that will implement the project.

It is the second major contract won by the French-South Korean team in the GCC since March last year. The team previously won the contract to develop and operate the 500MW Manah 1 solar IPP in Oman.

The same EPC contractor, Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation, is implementing the Manah 1 IPP.

Net-zero goals

The Al-Ajban project – similar to the 1,584MW Al-Dhafra solar IPP, which was inaugurated in November, and the operational 935MW Noor Abu Dhabi plant – supports the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net-Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.

Ewec aims to install up to 17GW of solar PV capacity by 2035.

The plan will require the procurement of about 1.5GW of capacity annually over the next 10 years. Over the intervening period, ending in 2030, Ewec plans to have an additional 5GW of solar capacity, reaching a total solar installed capacity of 7.3GW by 2030.

Ewec expects its first battery energy storage system to come online in the late 2020s to boost balancing the grid's load as more renewable energy enters the system.

The UAE published its updated national energy strategy in July last year. It includes a plan to triple the nationwide renewable energy capacity to 19GW by 2030.